1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus that can carbonate liquids within a container.
2. Description of Related Art
Carbonated water and sodas are typically packaged in glass or plastic bottles. When shipped, the bottles are usually sealed with a cap or top that can be subsequently removed. After the seal is broken, the carbon dioxide escapes the bottle. Over time, the soft drink loses most of its carbonation, resulting in a drink that tastes "flat". The release of carbon dioxide from the soft drink therefore limits the amount of time that an opened bottle of soda can be kept and reused.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,022,565 issued to Sturman et al, discloses a attachment that an be attached to a container to recarbonate the contents therein. Although effective the Sturman regulator does not provide manual control of the flow of gas into the container. Therefore the user cannot vary the pressure of the gas within the container. It would be desirable to have a pressurited gas attachment that provides a variable regulator to control the pressure of gas within a soft drink container.
Removing the cork from wine bottle typically requires the insertion of a corkscrew and then the extraction of both the screw and the cork from the bottle. Such a method is somewhat strenuous and time consuming. Additionally, if the corkscrew is not operated correctly the cork may break within the bottle. A broken cork ma y result in unwanted cork particles in the wine. It has also been found that the wine will degrade when exposed to air. Thus even when the cork is reinserted into the bottle, the bottle will still contain air that will reduce the quality of the wine. It would therefore be desirable to have an apparatus that can both remove a cork and purge the wine bottle of air. It would also be desirable if the same apparatus could also carbonate a soft drink within a container.